Seizures
by Yemi Hikari
Summary: AU - Sometimes the brain washing didn't go the way they planned... but even so... the opposite effects of their system also have garanteed that no one speaks about things that shouldn't be said.
1. Prolog

_Disclaimer – I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender. Most of the fanfics for Zuko/Jet right now are slash, this is not… it's friendship/family…_

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Seizures  
(Prolog)

Jet was not happy that he was being dragged into the pit of despair, a dismal jail cell he felt that he didn't belong in at all. At least, he thought it was a jail cell, until they slammed him into what seemed like an interrogation chair. He had been yelling at the men that those two who he had pointed out really were Firebenders, but fact was, the men were ignoring him, which upset him greatly. Was the city under the control of the Fire Nation of something?

He felt the bands of earth strap across his wrists and his brow area even as he squirmed and the lamp went around and around, the man trying to implement thoughts into his head… that there was no war. He tried to keep his eyes away from the spinning light as his head was starting to pound, but his eyes were drawn to the light.

And that's when it hit him… not the suggestion, but something worse… something that threw the suggestion trying to be implemented right out of the window. Blast those stupid Firebenders, it weren't for them he wouldn't have been feeling like a rock had just hit him on the side of the temple. The pain was immense.

Jet was then shocked to find his body trying to strain against the rock restraints, completely against his wanting to move them. Something was defiantly wrong and he found his mind slipping and his body contorting worse and worse. He heard the man in front of him continue to chant the whole, there was no war speech.

It was then that someone stepped between him and the light. "Stop! We won't be able to brainwash the boy! He's… one of those…"

"One of those that ends up with those seizures… he looks completely healthy," the other man said.

"Well, not anymore… obviously there was something wrong with him that we didn't notice… as with those few that it wasn't evident in… it's going to show now and no one is going to want to listen to someone who is possibly mad," the man said.

"_No_," the teenager though suddenly realizing that his body was involuntarily trying to bite his tongue off and forget one memory at a time, not to mention make his head burn on fire. He suddenly felt a rock piece slammed into his mouth to keep him from biting down.

"A pity too… he would have been so useful…" the man in front of him muttered. "But now he's useless to all of society."

"_No,_" was all the boy could think… the last thing he ever wanted to be was useless. His body had just stopped contorting and the gag was removed. He muttered out some words. "I… am… rine. Get… te Rirebenders…"

"Well… looks like we'll need to complete the whole breaking of his mind… so far it's just his speech that has gone somewhat," the man said, not bothering to put the rock back into Jet's mouth. He stepped away and the light started going around and around again causing Jet's body to contort again and for him to cry out, only to find he really couldn't. His whole mind was shattering and he didn't think he'd be able to get it back.

**M**

Because the shop was shattered as it was, Iroh and Zuko were sent home early… or more of Mushi and Le were sent home early. Iroh had one of those looks on his face he got when he was disappointed in his nephew, so Zuko's eyes snapped over to the old man. "What did I do this time?"

"Nothing nephew… I just thought that you got along well with that other young man… I thought that after you fought a bit that perhaps you two could have settled your differences and have become friends…" the old man sighed.

"Look Uncle… you know that wouldn't have happened… he _hates_ Firebenders,"

"But the four of you stole that food for everyone," the old man muttered.

"Didn't you tell me _not_ to go stealing?" Zuko snapped.

"It depends completely on the moral grounds nephew… that is what true honor is about,"

"I know… I know… but what is all these morally ethic things you are always talking about. I don't understand how one can tell what is morally correct,"

"Yes… your father raised you well," Iroh muttered.

"Uncle…" Zuko started.

"No… listen to me Zuko… your father has no honor, except false honor," Iroh commented. "Thus he has left you with a very crippled idea of what honor is…"

"I was going to ask you to explain how one knows whether something is honorable to do or not?" Zuko muttered.

"Honor is not about the achievements one does or the major accomplishments. It isn't about winning at all,"

"Not about winning?" Zuko commented.

"No… not about winning," Iroh said. "It is about doing what is stuck in your heart, banging to get out… doing what your heart feels is right, not what your head tells you to do."

The three stepped inside the apartment and Zuko went to his bed and lay down. Iroh went to his and was soon snoring. Zuko didn't want to think about the nights events, but he then caught a glimpse of something blue and white and bit his lip. He heard his uncle turn over in his sleep. "I wonder where they took that poor boy…"

This caused Zuko to bite his lip harder and grab the mask. As he left, clothed as the Blue Spirit, he didn't see his Uncle open one eye while continuing to snore as loudly as possible.

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Author's note – Yes… I just majorly tortured Jet… and yes... his Uncle tricked him into going.


	2. Rescue

**Chapter 1  
(Rescue)**

The Blue Spirit was wondering how he would find out where they took the prisoners to when they were picked up off the street for disturbing the peace. If it had been the Fire nation, the answer would have been a lot simpler. This meant he had to some how cause a disturbance to the peace without being caught.

He slunk around a corner and glanced out at an old man standing at the corner. He was about to go out and scare him when he thought about what his Uncle had said to him, about honor being something that was about doing what one felt was right. This of course didn't feel like it was right, scaring the old man so that an innocent could get hauled off to jail.

He groaned then at the fact that he was saving a non-innocent from jail… well, seeing if the other boy was in fact alright. He knew his uncle would want to know and that it had nothing to do with the fact that he felt any remorse for the boy. The fact was that the boy happened to have wanted to cause Zuko and his only family he could at this point trust with what could be deemed as great harm.

Zuko was debating this when suddenly a man came out and tried to steal the old man's wallet. Zuko shook his head at them… this was really late at night… why was an old man out here. Suddenly, the old man let out a yell and the Dai Li were upon the thief in no time. A carriage was pulled up, one of those that had carted off Jet. The Blue Spirit moved then.

He was quite and unnoticeable as he leapt to the roofs and maneuvered so that he could land on the roof of the carriage and dive down. He heard it move and crouched down so that he wouldn't be able to be seen, smirking to himself at his cleverness. Of course… Uncle would not likely be happy with the whole situation, but there was nothing the exiled prince could do about it now.

**M**

Jet was seriously having a hard time remembering who he was. He didn't want to think about anything, unless his body went into shock as it had done before. That was the best way for him to describe it. He found himself completely without the use of his body and was still trying to figure out what they had done to him… and what they were going to do with him.

He suddenly found himself being lifted be rough hands and felt himself flung into the cart that had brought him here… or carriage, or what ever it was. His shoulder hit hard and dislocated, but he found that he was unable to react to the pain, which disturbed him. Then again, there was the fact her couldn't move at all.

One of the solders laughed. "Another kid for the mental ward."

"No… he's going to be a street urchin… if he can survive for that long," another laughed.

"They'll likely pick him up off the street and stick him in the mental hospital. I hear that he's one of the ones that suddenly falls down and has convulsions, no explanations as to why,"

"Is he one of the ones who was having problems before?" the man said.

"Nope… he seemed perfectly fine… then wham… they tried using the device on him,"

"Are they sure he won't be a problem?" the man said as the door snapped shut.

"Believe me… because of those convulsions, he'll be considered mental. I don't see why they gave him back those blasted blades. He's going to have problems from the fact he won't tell when he goes into the seizures,"

**M**

The Blue Spirit rode up on top of the cart as it stopped next to another one. He peeked over and glimpsed the two drivers watching each other. His commented to the other. "Have another return to normal life?"

"No… I have a teenage boy who if he talks to anyone about Firebenders again… they won't believe him… he's that broken…"

"Good riddance… no war, remember!" the man said cheerfully, then took off again.

The Blue Spirit realized that they must have been talking about Jet. He jumped from one cart to the other without being noticed then hung down behind and peeked in. There was the boy who had tried to out them. Why exactly was he doing this again? It was for his Uncle's sake.

He blinked a couple of times and realized that the boy had curled up into a bawl and wasn't moving. This caused him to frown under his mask… the boy he had met on the ferry was nothing like that. He swung down and threw open the door, just in time for the boy to turn his eyes up towards him.

When Jet saw the mask, his eyes rolled back into his head and his whole body began to convulse. The Blue Spirit did the one thing he could think of to stop the boy from biting his tongue off… he grabbed one of his two swords and shoved the hilt into his mouth like a solid bar and held on. He was surprised the guard hadn't stopped, and then he heard a voice.

"Another seizure?" The Blue Spirit frowned. Another seizure… this whole thing had happened before? No wonder the other boy was in the state that he was in… he then heard the guard moving. "I'd better check to see that you aren't biting off your tongue… wouldn't want your death on my hands."

As the guard stopped the carriage, Zuko found himself doing a tactic he had used before, when rescuing Aang. He placed his swords to Jet's neck and waited for the man to open the door. The man let out a gasp and moved when Zuko nodded his head to let them go. As soon as he was out of sight he quickly sheathed his swords and swung Jet over his shoulder.

He was lucky that the man felt that Jet was now out of his hands and didn't need to worry about chasing him, as the boy's weight, though no heavy, was rather awkward to carry.

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Author's note – Yup… it's likely Jet is going to be very mad at Zuko later.


	3. Panic

**Chapter 2  
(Panic)**

Jet had felt himself thrown into the cart roughly and barely had been able to find himself able to curl up into a ball to try to keep at bay the shaking that was happening to his body. His mind was foggy and he couldn't place what was going to happen to him other then that he might be wandering the streets for days… if he could stand up.

A shadow passed over the actual window area… there was a hole on this one as they didn't need to silence his yelling about a war outside the city. This caused him to look up at what was moving just as the door swung open. His eyes quickly caught the blue mask and his body freaked on him… not because he was scared, but because of the fact that the sight startled him.

The next thing he knew was that the person had shoved him over onto his back and was removing his sword. "_To kill me… good riddance…_" were the words that passed through Jet's mind. Instead he found the hilt of the sword being stuffed into his mouth where he could still taste the blood from earlier. He also heard somewhat coherently that the driver was stopping the cart.

The next thing he knew, the blue freak… for that's what he was, had his swords at Jet's neck and was helping him to walk backwards. The driver was just letting them go and as soon as Jet and the masked guy were around a corner, the guy sheathed his swords and swung Jet over his shoulder. Jet felt like he was going to throw up from that uncomfortable position.

Eventually after they had gotten to a place that the _thing_ felt it was safe, he went and set Jet down. He leaned the boy up against the wall, causing Jet to glare at the goy. "_Who are you!_" his eyes screamed. He heard the person let out a frustrated sigh then say in a somewhat familiar voice. "You won't be happy knowing who rescued you…"

Jet though just continued to glare at the person, who shrugged his shoulders then removed his mask. Jet's eyes went wide in shock, not understanding why he was seeing who he was. And from the shock, Jet's body went into convulsions again. He found something shoved into his mouth again and realized that it was the fire brat's hand, right between the thumb and the other fingers.

"Not again! What did they do to you in there!" the boy said, waiting for Jet to finish. When he removed his hand, Jet found his stomach contents, mostly from an empty stomach coming up… and onto the person he considered a major enemy. The other boy glanced down at his shirt. "Thank you…"

Jet then felt the boy forcing him to look him in the eye. "You do realize I have two choices, sense I don't know where your friends are and can't drop you off with them... so that leaves me leaving you on the street or taking you home so my uncle can see if he can't do something for you…"

Jet spat out the last of the vomit at the boy's feet and glared at him and stuttered out a word, leave. However, it came out garbled, but the boy raised his eyebrow and got up and walked away, disappearing around the next corner. Jet grimaced and tried to stand up on his own, but fell to the floor.

He suddenly found himself being helped to his feet, his right arm over the right shoulder of the other boy. He then felt his left arm being brought over the left and then his legs being pulled off the ground. He struggled a bit and managed to squeeze the throat of the boy, which caused him to stagger a bit.

"Knock it off! Do you want me to help you are not! Oh, wait… you'd rather die then let a possible person of the Fire Nation help you!" this caused Jet to loosen his grip on the boys throat. "Good… you can strangle me later… get some sleep if possible. I'm taking you back to my Uncle and my apartment."

Jet suddenly spurted out a word that came out coherently. "Why?"

"Because my uncle would never let me live it down, leaving you out here… though he's going to ask how you got there…" the boy sighed. "He doesn't know yet that I snuck out. And _don't_ tell him about the mask. He doesn't believe that the Blue Spirit actually exists and I'd rather it stay that way."

Jet was livid and his body tensed as he leaned into the other boy's shoulder, trying not to fall asleep. The boy started walking down the street, heading back to where he had come from. Suddenly a man with a straw hat stopped him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Well… my cousin here got sick… I had to go and pick him up from where he was so that I can take him home to our uncle. Uncle is good at making … he's good at making teas to make people feel better."

"_That guard is 'not' going to buy that we're related!_" Jet said, scoffing to himself, to weak to be able to move about, let alone make a face. But obviously he had made a face.

"I guess that your cousin isn't looking forward to that… healing teas tend to be very bitter," the man said. Jet blinked a couple of times, not believing that the man had actually bought Le's lies. "Ahh… I'm right; he's not looking forward to it."

Jet bit his lip as the man hurried off, letting off a grumble into Le's ear. The boy moved so that Jet wouldn't fall off his back. "Yeah, yeah… when your able to move your going to try to kill me… again. Fact is though… you know I'll put up a fight."

"_Why didn't I recognize those blasted swords?_" Jet thought to himself, his eyelids drooping even as he tried to fight of sleep. He would have to figure out how to kill Le later.


	4. Uncle

**Chapter 3  
(Uncle)**

When Zuko had gotten far enough away and had set the other boy down, he saw that the boy was glaring quite lividly at him. There was no possible way that he could have known who was behind the mask and told the boy that it wasn't a good idea for him to know who was behind the mask. He then guessed that Jet had identified his swords and then removed his mask.

He saw the anger well up in the other boys eyes and suddenly the boy went into seizures again… except this time, there was more… the earth had begun to shake a little bit too… though Jet didn't seem to notice that this was going on… and if this was Jet's doing… it was very likely that he hadn't a clue he was doing it… there was no signs of Jet having these abilities like he had before, so it couldn't be Jet, which meant someone was coming.

Zuko found himself then making a huge mistake… that of stuffing his hand into Jet's mouth so that he wouldn't gag on his own tongue. He held the boys head so that he wouldn't slam it against the wall, but this was defiantly not easy. He muttered something about this happening again… and as Jet stopped the ragged movements, he removed his hand.

Only to then be vomited upon by the other boy. This vomit wasn't the kind that was with food, it was the bile kind that came from having an empty stomach. Zuko snapped out a choice bit of thanks to the other boy. He then grabbed the boys face and roughly forced him to look him in the eye. He verbally gave him two choices. Jet picked the one, with his eyes that he knew that he would pick, for him to leave.

Zuko disappeared around the wall and leaned against it. That boy was stubborn… as stubborn as he was if one thought about it. He shook his hand, which hurt from having been bitten. He glanced around the corner and saw Jet trying to get up and rolled his eyes. He hurried over just as the boy was falling and helped the boy onto his back.

It was then that Jet to the chance to choke him, causing him to stumble. Zuko frowned, as the boy should have under normal circumstances have had his airways blocked off, but this wasn't the case. He muttered something about the problems and then started off with the boy. Someone stopped him, the one that Zuko figured had been coming up to them and he told a lie he didn't want to tell.

From the way Jet's body tensed, he knew the boy was not happy about it, but it ended up working and the man went his own way. He also began to feel Jet's body relax and realized that the boy was actually falling asleep. This meant that the boy was worse off then Zuko had thought… which was worse for him and his uncle.

**M**

Iroh was pretending to be asleep on the mat when he heard his nephew come in. He at first thought nothing of it, but then heard his nephew shuffling someone else onto his bed and then him walking over to him and shaking his shoulder. "Uncle… I found _him_. He isn't doing to well."

With that Iroh sat right up and fire up a lamp, not worrying about his bending being found out. He hurried over to where his nephew had placed down the boy. He carefully placed a hand on Jet's face and shook him so that he would wake up. The boy's eyes snapped open, grogginess in them. That was when the boy began to convulse.

As Iroh stuffed a stick into the boy's mouth, he felt the ground shake. "Child… did your friend mention anything about being an Earthbender."

"He's not my friend uncle, and no he didn't,"

"What have they done to this poor boy? Try to force him into becoming something he isn't?" Iroh sighed.

"You mean… awakening Earthbending when it wasn't there?" Zuko asked.

"No… it can only be awoken if it is there to be awoken child," the old man sighed. "I just think this boy has had the luck of his ability lying dormant for a long time."

It was then that the convulsions stopped and the boy lay their panting. Iroh removed the piece of wood as Zuko brought him a bowl of water. The man pointed to Zuko's waist. "I need your belt… it is good and dark…"

"Why?" Zuko asked. "Why would you need to blindfold him? You don't need to hide you know what because you don't need you know what…"

"Zuko!" the old man groaned. "I need to stop him from seeing and hope that stops the seizures for now."

Zuko reluctantly handed over his waist sash and watched as his uncle dampened it and then tied it around Jet's eyes. He nodded for Zuko to push the boy up and Zuko grimaced as his uncle took the bowl to Jet's lips and began to flush it in and out of the boy's mouth. Zuko could feel the boy tense up and as he did so, the water began to run red from the blood.

"I hope that he doesn't have too much damage to his tongue… that is what helps one taste things, not to mention speak… of course… he may have ended up without the ability to speak, and other things from that seizure."

"He's had to have had at least four of them already," Zuko muttered. He watched as hi uncle went and began to take some tea. Instead of boiling it, he began to mix it in with some rice flour and water, bringing it to a boil and letting it thicken. He then came back and blew on it a few times.

"It isn't good that he's had this many… where are his friends?"

"I don't know… I didn't see them when he attacked,"

"Not good… he'll have to stay with us," the man said. He began to spoon the odd gruel into the boy's mouth, only to have Jet spit it out. This caused the old man to force more into his mouth and hold it shut. When Jet refused to swallow, or showed no signs of being able to swallow, he warmed his hand and placed it on the boy's throat, causing a swallowing to happen. He continued this process.

"I don't want him to stay with us!" Zuko stated.

"Yes… well, I am going to have to gag him while we go to our job this morning… we'll discuss if he stays or leaves later."

"Are you going to tie him up too?" Zuko snapped.

"I'm not gagging him because he's our prisoner! Sometimes I wonder about you nephew!"

"Then why…"

"Because if he has another seizure… I don't want to leave him alone,"

"I'll stay…" Zuko muttered. "Tell the shop owner I feel bad about the damage caused even though it isn't my fault."

"Zuko…"

"Don't use my real name!" the boy snapped. "It's bad enough that…"

"That what?"

"I had to lie to a guard that he was my cousin," the boy said. He saw his uncle pale. "You officially have a second brother or something… a sister maybe… that you didn't know about."

The color returned to the old man's cheeks. He then sighed. "I am sorry… I was just surprised… Zuko… you know my son died in the war…"

"He's irreplaceable, I know… I miss him too," the boy muttered.

"Irreplaceable in the fact that no one can take his actual place, but that doesn't mean that there isn't room for another son… particularly you. I am headed off to work."

Zuko then lay the boy down on his side and went to get some sleep on his uncle's mat.

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_Author's note - Yes... the whole thing has unlocked not just seizures... but a once dormant Earthbending ability..._


	5. Anger

**Chapter 4  
(Anger)**

Jet wasn't happy about the fact that his eyes were covered over and had to agree with Le, it was more of something to keep him from finding things out then for him to get better. He was also miffed that it was Le's belt sash that was wrapped around his eyes… but then again, he didn't want anything of theirs touching him.

While his eyes were closed though, he could hear them quite well. He couldn't figure out why Le's uncle had asked if he was an Earthbender. He was miffed at the fact that the old man had said that he would have to stay with them for awhile. As soon as he was on his feet again, he was going to be out of here and back with Smellerbee and Longshot.

He then was surprised to see something on a spoon stuck into his mouth. Jet's first reaction to this was that it hurt, but from the tone of the muttering of the old man, the man thought that the boy had taken it as poison. He then felt more being shoved into his mouth and a hand clamped over it so he couldn't spit it out.

Jet then knew he had the option to refuse to swallow or to just swallow it. He knew that the old man would persist until he did swallow it, so he tried to, only finding that he couldn't. He figured Le's Uncle Mushi would make a comment about his refusal to eat, but instead he felt a warm hand placed against his throat, helping to swallow… had the old man just used some sort of Firebending ability?

That was when he heard the old man saying he was going to gag him. He agreed with Le when the boy asked about tying him up… why wouldn't he. He was then shocked to hear that it was because they had to leave him alone and the old man was worried about him having _another _seizure. And to Jet's dismay… Le offered to stay behind; making what Jet thought was a possible lie, that he felt sorry for the shop being wrecked.

But that was when Mushi let slip Le's real name… his real name was Zuko. Jet knew he would have to remember that name, as he knew he had heard it before somewhere, thus he knew that with that he would be onto something. Something about the name was bugging him much as the scar… something ever since Jet had figured out they were Firebenders.

It was then that Jet learned that Mushi had lost his son in the war… not that Jet cared… or so he told himself. He heard the door click open then closed. After a few hours of lying in the blackness and regaining his strength, he sat up and pulled away the cloth, tossing it to the ground.

That's when he saw Zuko lying on his Uncle's mat and Jet glared at him. Why was it that Zuko ended up with the bed and his Uncle ended up taking the mat… shouldn't it have been the other way around. Or was it that they really weren't related. Jet placed his hands on his hooks, thinking about killing the boy.

It was then that he saw Zuko move with lightning speed from the ground and slammed Jet backwards. "Don't… even try it…"

Jet's hands then fell to his sides. "Hate you…"

"Why should you… I've given you no reason," the boy glared at the other.

"You are a Firebender," Jet commented.

"You have no proof," Zuko snapped.

"I saw your Uncle heat his tea in the train depot," the other boy muttered, somewhat garbled.

"So…" Zuko moved away from the boy and sat cross legged on the mat.

"You broke my trust!" Jet snapped.

"You're the one who broke mine… I didn't tell you I was or wasn't a Firebender… so if I wasn't and had said I was and if I was and had said I isn't the same as not saying whether or not I am," Zuko's chin suddenly went into his palm.

"That makes no sense… expesully the whole I broke your trust! It was you who broke mine when you didn't tell me that you were a Firebender," Jet commented.

"Let's just say that… if I was a Firebender and I had told you I was… what would you have done? Shunned and ousted me like you're doing right now?" the pale skinned boy snapped.

"Duh, yes I would have!" Jet snapped.

"Then why the hell should I tell someone that I was a Firebender if I was one?" Zuko said.

Jet's face softened for a few seconds, and then hardened. "You refused to join our little group! You wanted nothing to do with us!"

"No… I did… but I didn't want to get hurt when you guys found out the truth! It's why I was so reluctant to join you on your escapade to get the food on the ferry! The last time I got close to someone, an Earth Kingdom family, when they found out, they treated me like filth!"

"You are filth your moron!" Jet snapped.

"You don't think I don't know that! The only person I've _ever _met from my nation with a good heart who would never deserve the persecution that the other nations place on the Fire Citizens who defiantly don't deserve it are my Uncle and my mother… if she still be alive… my sister is a monster psychopath…"

"What about your father?" Jet mumbled.

"My…" Zuko's face turned pale. "I would rather not talk about him… go back to sleep!"

Jet narrowed his eyes, realizing that he had struck a major cord with the boy. He sneered at him, "What, did he give you that scar? It wasn't a Firebending training accident?"

Zuko's response completely shocked Jet. "So what if he did?"

"So what if he did! You mean to tell me I actually guessed right even though I wasn't even trying!" Jet stammered out.

Zuko paused to make out Jet's garbled words, and then got the drift of what he said. He didn't look him in the eye. "I got what I disserved. I have to earn my honor back with him…"

"Why would you want to earn your honor back with a man with no honor?" Jet found himself being slammed against the wall again.

"Don't you _dare _say that my father has no honor! He's got more honor then…" Zuko started… but was interrupted.

"… then your uncle? As I see it, the man who didn't burn you is more of a father to you then the man who burned you! Nobody deserves to get hurt like that… I mean, nothing you could have done could be justified with that kind of punishment!" Jet commented.

"Subject is closed," Zuko said, pulling away from the boy.

Jet decided to change the subject there, "You know… if I was better, we wouldn't be having this discussion anyway."

"No… you would have launched at me and we would have both been in a fight, this time both of us getting hauled off to that crap place they took you too. _Get_ some sleep. When Uncle gets back, I'll go and look for your friends."


	6. Bitterness

**Chapter 5  
(Bitterness)**

Zuko was furious at the fact that the boy had questioned the honor of his own father. He had in truth deserved what had happened to him, for showing dishonor to those above him… most expesully his father. He heard the other boy shift in his sleep and became even more upset. He wanted that boy gone as soon as possible, when possible.

Zuko was also sure that the advice Jet had spewed out of that mouth of his wasn't from pity or from the fact that Jet cared what happened to him. It was just Jet reflecting his overly biased opinion, and that other boy was defiantly biased. There was no way that Jet could know or understand anything about the situation and there was no way that Jet had the opinion that one Firebender was better then another one.

He rested with his back against the wall and wished he had gone to the tea shop with his uncle… even though he felt majorly uncomfortable there. Everyone stared at the scar on his face… probably assuming he was some sort of monster… for wasn't that what his scar marked him as?

Zuko of course wasn't thinking about the kind of monster that most people would think about, though the thoughts of all the bad things he had done did occur to him. To him, his monstrosity was that he was a complete and utter failure and he had yet to succeed at one thing in his life that was important in the long run, expesully for his father.

Zuko had zoned out so much in his thoughts that he didn't hear his uncle come in. Instead, he heard the old man speak to him. "I was able to convince the tea shop owner that young man is a relative and that he had become ill and we are trying to get him better and that he wouldn't do that again."

"Why did you _ever_ go and do _that_ for!" Zuko snapped, spinning on the man.

"Do you mean why did I say that he was family, or that he wouldn't do it again?" Iroh commented.

"I was thinking the first, but both I guess. You _really _think that once Jet is going to get back on his feet he isn't going to try to kill me again?" Zuko commented.

"That was a nice spar you two had the other day… you should both do it more often… though more for play and practice then actually trying to kill each other," Iroh laughed.

"I _didn't _try to kill him Uncle… it would have ruined our so called secret life for crying out loud. He was the one trying to kill… no, not me… you… he started after you because of your stupid tea!"

"Oh come on Zuko, tea is good for the body and the soul!" Iroh laughed again. He then became serious. "As for what you said, why I did that... Zuko… I don't think that boy is ever going to have a normal life ever again. Even if we can get him past those seizures… he still has had that dormant Earthbending awaken in him… you know what it's like not to be able to bend… you also know what it is like to struggle with bending."

"Thank you so much," the teenager snapped.

"Zuko… he has no where to go…" the man said.

"I might possibly be able to find his friends," Zuko muttered, getting up to leave.

"And you aren't his friend? I saw how you acted on the boat Zuko… you did want to be those other kids' friend… don't hide it…"

"Why… when as soon as they found out _what _I am they would have just shunned me like _they _did."

"You mean the Avatar and his friends," Iroh asked.

"No…" Zuko remembered to well that the Airbender had asked him if under different circumstances if they could have ended up being friends. "Something you don't know about. I'm going to go look for them."

**M**

Zuko was at a loss after he left the apartment as to where to go and start looking for Smellerbee and Longshot. He hadn't recalled seeing them the day before when Jet had decided to pull the stunt he had in trashing the tea shop. He decided to first look around and be quite about things going on around him.

It was then that he bumped into someone and he paused, looking straight at the person. It wasn't Smellerbee… but this person was more obviously a girl. She was dressed in green, but who wasn't in this town… even two Fire Nation refugees were not dressed in red. She also had brown hair, but Zuko didn't really care and turned and walked off, not seeing the girl's cheeks get a slight tinge of pink.

Zuko frowned to himself and found that he was not liking this and it wasn't working as well as he would like completely due to not knowing where to look for the other two Freedom Fighters, whom Zuko found to be sane compared to Jet. He also had to wonder where the kids got those crazy names from.

He went and leaned against a wall, frustrated with himself. Why was it that he could never succeed at doing anything right? That seemed to make up the whole of his life… messing everything he put his mind to into a major mess. He also felt himself slipping deeper and deeper into the depression he constantly found himself in.

Jet's being there could not be helping. The working at the tea shop could not be helping. Nor could the fact that he had to keep his Firebending a secret. Nor the fact that he had to wear these dumb green clothing. Nor the fact that his sister was a major psychopath. Oh… and the fact when he wanted lightning to strike him… well, it just didn't happen. Zuko let out a sigh and continued to try to find the two he was looking for.


	7. Fever

**Chapter 6  
(Fever)**

Jet had been half asleep when Zuko and Iroh had been having their conversation. Of course, with as muddled as his mind was at the time, he was only able to process some of the words that he had heard… something about… what, wasn't it Earthbending. That must mean something about the Dai Li, right.

He heard the door slap shut and drifted off into slumber for awhile then came back too, smelling something cooking. He slowly sat up, his head suddenly acting out against him and he let out a groan. As he opened his eyes he found Iroh moving towards him and he backed away into the wall.

Iroh let out a sigh and shook his head. "What is it that I can do to get you to trust us?"

"_Nothing!_" Jet hissed. He glanced around looking for a way to escape but found that in truth that no matter if he came up with a plan, he had no way to escape.

"You're afraid… aren't you?" Iroh commented. Jet acted like the man had slapped him in the face, causing the old Firebender to let out a sigh. "It's evident that you're upset from your eyes. They're a dead give away… though I think it's because of your state of mind and body… tea to help?"

The holding out of the tea caused Jet to suddenly blink at the old man and take the cup of tea from his hands. He looked at it, wondering if he should drink it, only to hear Iroh laugh. "It's alright… tea is too precious of a thing to put poison into."

Jet looked up at the man's face and realized that his eyes were filled with laughter. He blinked a couple of times. "You… you made a joke!"

"Yes… I love making a joke… and I love teasing youth about living life out to their fullest. Especially my nephew… to see his embarrassed expression. Le's sensitive about certain things, see."

"You mean Zuko… why would his father burn his face," Jet asked.

"How did you get that much out of him?" Iroh asked, his voice turning to surprise.

"What do you mean?" Jet mumbled, sipping into the tea. It wasn't hot tea, but in fact a very cold tea and he yanked it away.

"While a hot tea is good for soothing the soul… so can a nice cold tea… expesully when one's tongue is swollen and doesn't need anymore pain… like burns on the tongue," Iroh then looked away. "My nephew isn't one to talk about personal things like that…"

"He accidently let it slip that you and his mother were he felt decent people in the Fire Nation… though I'm surprised he didn't defend himself as decent. I asked about his father and he wouldn't talk about him, like it was some painful subject, I assumed that his father couldn't have been as bad as the worst possible scenario, trying to make him mad… unfortunately…"

Iroh sighed. "My brother is the worst case possible scenario…"

"Why does he want to get his honor back from that snake?" Jet asked.

"It isn't his honor back that he really wants… he wants to go back home and wants his father to love him and accept him, but to Zuko… he's mistaking honor and love as the same thing."

"For an eighteen year old he's very daft…" Jet muttered.

"My nephews sixteen like you…" Iroh commented.

This caused Jet to blink a couple of times. "Actually… he's a year younger then me… I figured that he was actually older then me… but he's _younger_?"

"Yes," Iroh laughed. "He tries to act like an adult, doesn't he? Much like you do… Smellerbee and Longshot weren't the only Freedom Fighters that you had… there used to be more… and I have the feeling you'd been taking care of them for a long time now…"

"Since I turned fourteen, maybe fifteen, I formed them up, not expecting much… then I betrayed their trust and I couldn't lead them anymore… and… I had to look at it from the adult point of view… they were all kids and I was trying to get them to do an adults work load…" Jet commented.

"That would have been around the time Zuko got burned by his father or a year later…" Iroh muttered.

"That would make him what, thirteen?" Jet commented, and then realization dawned on him. "What could Zuko as a _thirteen _year old have done to anger his father like that?"

"It isn't my place to say… it is a sensitive thing to Zuko…"

"But that man has no honor and he's trying to get his back!" Jet snapped. "Your family is extremely messed up!"

"Oh, I know that… and Zuko never _lost_ his honor… it was doing something that was honorable that caused the problem in the first place…" Iroh said. "There is no place for those with good hearts in the Fire Nation… if they find it; they try to beat it out of one's soul!"

When Jet didn't try to argue the point of all Fire Nation being evil, Iroh raised an eyebrow, a smile on his face. "What happened to your thinking that all Fire Nation people are evil? I expected more of an argument from you about this…"

"Saying that would be like saying there is no evil in the other nations… mine included… look at what the Dai Li did to me…" the boy muttered. He then thought about it for a second. "And anyone who doesn't give someone like you Mushi a chance… Zuko on the other hand… I can't tell what side he's on…"

"Neither can I really," Iroh sighed. "He's so stubborn about this whole thing with his father… and the fact that he really can't turn to his mother…"

"So that makes him an orphan of the war just like the rest of the Freedom Fighters…"

"He has me," Iroh beamed. He then frowned and placed a hand on his chin. "Of course… some times Zuko does act like… well, he'd rather not be around me… he's already run off a couple of times already… that silly boy… and to chase lighting for that matter."

"Lighting… why would he go off and chase lightning," Jet muttered.

"Well… his psychopath sister can shoot lighting and I taught him a move based off of Waterbending that can redirect it and I wouldn't shoot lightning at him so that he could prove that he could do it and when I said something along the lines of misdirecting it through his body could kill him and it wasn't to be used unless he absolutely _had _to use it… he got mad and went off to find lightning to redirect."

Jet couldn't believe that the boy he had met on the ferry had actually gone and done something _that _stupid. That was even _more _stupid then what he had done when he blew up the dam. He opened and closed his mouth a few times trying to think of something to say. Finally, he settled on something. "No comment."

"That was the _second_ time he ran off on me. I was so glad that when he _did _find lightning, that it didn't go _anywhere_ near him!" Iroh said shaking his head.

Jet covered his eyes with his hand. He had thought that the Fire Nation boy had gone of to try to find his sister to shoot lightning at him, but instead had done something even crazier… gone after the natural formation of lightning. "He's…"

Jet didn't say much before he stopped, his head getting dizzy. Iroh frowned and removed the cup from his hands and felt his forehead. "A fever I see…"

_

* * *

_

Author's note – Thanks for the help with the 'red' thing. I am also glad that someone guessed that it was Jin that Zuko had bumped into. Someone's starting to crush on somebody!


End file.
